As regular CFZ-watchers will know, for some time Corinna has been doing a column for Animals & Men and a regular segment on On The Track... particularly about out-of-place birds and rare vagrants. There seem to be more and more bird stories from all over the world hitting the news these days so, to make room for them all - and to give them all equal and worthy coverage - she has set up this new blog to cover all things feathery and Fortean.

Friday, 10 March 2017

World’s oldest wild bird just hatched another egg at 66

February 22, 2017 by Chuck Bednar The Laysan albatross believed to own the title of the world’s oldest known avian has hatched a new chick for the second straight year – no small feat for the approximately 66-year-old bird, as it takes approximately seven months to incubate an egg and raise a chick. In a statement released late last week, the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) revealed that the albatross named Wisdom, who has been living at Hawaii’s Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge and Battle of Midway National Memorial for more than six decades, had finally hatched an egg she that was first spotted incubating back in early December. Wisdom, who according to NPR was first banded by biologist Chandler Robbins in 1956, has given birth to at least 30 to 35 chicks, said Bob Peyton, USFWS Service Project Leader for the Refuge and Memorial. When not incubating eggs, the agency said that she is typically extremely active, having flown an estimated three million miles over the course of her life. “Wisdom continues to inspire people around the world,” Peyton explained. “Because Laysan albatross don’t lay eggs every year and when they do, they raise only one chick at a time, the contribution of even one bird to the population makes a difference.” “Laysan albatross and other seabirds depend on the habitat protected by Midway Atoll and other Pacific remote wildlife refuges to raise their young. Thanks to the hard work of our volunteers, we have been able to restore the native habitat that the birds need for nesting sites, ensuring a future for these seabirds,” he added. Read more at